Blessed Are Those Who Weep
by Coleiosis
Summary: Donna has an offer to propose to the Lombax race. What will it be? And with what will they defeat this new menace that lurks beneath the shadows.


Coleiosis Productions presents…  
PlayStation All-Stars

Blessed Are Those Who Weep

by Cole Bezotte

requested by Sofie Spangenberg

 **Do you think I'm even going to bother writing a whole introduction? Not for this one, pal! I'm gonna dig right into the story. Just remember what happened last time so you won't get lost so easily. Enjoy!**

"What happened, boy? You don't look so good."  
Ratchet heard those words spoken from his old friend Grimroth Razz; he was still on the top floor of Calypso Industries, struggling to recover from the Twisted Metal battle that he had bravely fought through. He had won, and so he received his friend back as his prize, thanks to the mysterious man known as Calypso.  
"Your wish has been granted," Calypso spoke, demanding more attention. "Enjoy it while you may."  
"Though I may have been separated from the Grim Reaper…" Grim silently thought, carrying the heavily injured Ratchet on his shoulder, "…there is still something ailing. That guy Calypso…I don't trust him. Something tells me that he kept the Grim Reaper alive as a separate force. But—first thing's first—Ratchet here needs to be healed and quick. Calypso will have to wait…"

Though the Twisted Metal contest was deadly, there was someone who raised the stakes of winning every time he competed. Needles was the most brutal of them all, defeating every other contestant with the power of his truck, and his ways of murder. And now he lied in a coffin, buried ten feet in the ground at Greymoor Cemetery. Calypso had chosen him to be the replacement of he who was formerly Mr. Grimm.  
But there was still a means of escape; the powerful Cosmic Key was still somewhere in the ground with him. It was only a matter of time before he came across it. As Needles rolled around in that tight coffin, he felt a small object right underneath his head. Curious to find out what it was, he turned and lied upon his stomach to get a better view of it. There it was, the only way out.  
"What's this…?" he hissed, struggling to reach his arm forward to grab the Key. "Has Mr. Grimm been so foolish to play with toys? No! I'm not imagining things! This is what he used in his last battle with Ratchet, using it to command the ground beneath him to crumble!"  
(We all know it happened in "The Vengeance of Grimm". If you don't, you'll be sorry.)  
All it took was one mental command, and Needles felt the coffin to lift itself up out of the ground and land upon the surface. Eagerly, he opened the door to find the sight of cloudy night skies; he was free at last. "Now I can have my fun again!" he exclaimed, placing his feet upon the ground. "I'm gonna give Calypso what he deserves! He shouldn't be in my way of doing my job! The Lombax race must suffer!"

If only Needles was able to see the Lombaxes right then. At the dimension where the rest of them dwelled, there was no more sign of danger now that the fiendish killer was snatched from that realm. Donna was astonished at how Needles had vanished right before her eyes; but she was still injured from the battle that had recently ended. But she was willing to accept the pain to protect the girl whose parents the fiend had murdered. The little one was still alive.  
"You saved me…" the pink-furred Lombax spoke. "But you did not save my parents in time."  
"I'm sorry…" Donna sadly replied. "It was hard for me to get here. I'm not from here."  
"But…how did you get here? Everyone said that no one can come in, no one can go out."  
"I was just lucky, I guess. Ratchet created the Time Cube to travel through time and space, and I used it to come to this dimension. Needles used the Dimensionator to get here, that bloodthirsty clown doing it for his own purpose."  
"Are ALL humans hostile?"  
"Absolutely not! There are many humans out there who desire peace between them and other legions. Yes, many others desire only power, some desiring a genocide fulfilled. But I even team up with humans to protect the universe from the corrupt-minded."  
"I never saw it that way…"  
"So what's your name? I'm Donna."  
"Hello, Donna. I'm Ruth."  
The little one's expression began to brighten up, a slight smile showing. Donna managed to fight through her weakness and find courage in cheering Ruth up. But there was still a greater offer to give her later that day. Would Ruth accept it, once she knew what it was?

"So Ratchet's okay…" Pupuru whimpered. "He came back for me? I feel so warm again! Or have I been stroking Lombax fur too long?"  
"Of course we ALL miss him," replied an excited Captain Qwark. "I'm just glad he'll be back here in time for waffles! That will be our victory feast for after we wipe out Calypso and end his contest!"  
"Agent Shepherd has already been sent to deal with him. There's no need for us all to go through the trouble."  
"Just once…can I please wallop someone in the face? I want to roam around, sweeping up the field mice and bopping them on the head."  
It was at the League of Heroes' mansion that this conversation was brought up. It was late at night, though no one was feeling tired or sleepy at all. All they wanted to talk about was the recent Twisted Metal battle and the mystery of Calypso.  
"Besides…" Pupuru continued, "…I know which foe we're dealing with. This is the dark twin of the good man William Sparks, who never intends harm upon the contestants of HIS version. The rules are to simply destroy the vehicles and let the drivers live, and for the battle to take place in empty, wide areas like a derby stadium. Even a villain's lair will be used, as well already know the intention of that. The lair of Dr. Eggman was destroyed from a Twisted Metal battle one time."  
"That's interesting and all…" Lan Hikari replied. "But we still haven't had word from Donna yet. How long has she been gone? We've lost contact with her!"  
"We can at least give her until midnight to return. She seems to be a night person herself."

Back at the void, Donna managed to trace Needles' big footprints to where he left the Dimensionator. There it was, right out in the open and free to take. "With this separated from him…" Donna spoke, picking it up off the ground, "…he won't be able to come back here again. Wherever he is, I hope he's ready to face me again. But this time, I'll be the victor."  
"You must really hate him, do you?" Ruth responded. "That clown freak?"  
"Yes, that's him. He tried to ruin my childhood one time; and I think he might have been the cause of my fear of pool sharks. I don't know for sure, though."  
"Will you be going back to Earth?"  
"I'll have to… My friends will be wondering why I've been gone too long. But… I can't leave you here…lost and without anyone else to look after you. Some question just struck me…"  
"You can't make up your mind, huh?"  
"It's not that… I want to ask you: how would you like to come to Earth WITH me?"  
"Me? Go with you? I'm somehow resisting… I've lived here for so long. But because I have no other choice, no other place to go, then I guess going with you is safe enough."  
"Then come on. Let's head to the Time Cube!"  
As a first test of being on Earth, and winning the respect of the human race, Ruth had to eradicate a scheme put into action by an evildoer in the face of the public. Already, there was such a one on the loose: the serial killer known as Cage had already cut down his latest victim mercilessly. Taking inspiration from the killing ways of Needles himself, he had become one of Los Angeles' most wanted criminals. Now his next target was Lan Hikari of the League of Heroes.  
Donna knew the exact directions to the mansion; she landed the Time Cube in the back yard, then she and Ruth snuck through the house's garage to set up a trap for Cage. "I hope you'll enjoy this one, Ruth…" Donna whispered with an assuring smile. "The other guys leave quite a mess in here, which is good enough for us to take what we can salvage. Take this skateboard for example; you go hide in that corner with it. And when I say 'go', you roll it out with full force."  
"But what will YOU do?" Ruth asked in reply.  
"I'll spring the trap, then you do the rest. Here he comes…"  
Cage walked towards the mansion in his heavy boots, the sound of his footsteps upon the driveway loud enough for all to hear. He was finally determined to get his mission over with once he tossed his cigar to the ground. But he was soon startled to see the mansion's garage door open; confused, he came across two possible solutions:  
"Did they foolishly do that by accident? Or were they expecting me?" His thoughts raced through his head, unsure and unaware of what was truly happening.  
Suddenly, he heard a roaring noise from inside. It sounded like a machine starting up, or maybe an animal using his killing instincts to warn him off. But it was actually Donna pulling the cord of the lawn mower, hidden in the dark so Cage would not know who was making those noises.  
"They must have been preparing for me!" Cage exclaimed. "I won't let them stop me now!"  
"GO!" Donna shouted.  
Distracted by the exclamation, Cage was unaware that it was the cue for Ruth to do her part in the action. He heard a rolling sound coming towards him, but he could not see where it was coming from. All the lights outside were off, and the streetlights were too far away to emit the dim light upon the ground. Cage suddenly felt himself lose his balance, then fully trip on what was coming his way. It was the skateboard; he had accidentally stepped upon it, causing him to slip and fall facedown upon the driveway.  
"You did it!" Donna exclaimed in excitement. "Good going!"  
Even Ruth experienced that night the feeling of satisfaction and happiness. She quickly embraced her new friend in her joy, happy to know that there was finally someone new to look after her and take good care of her. The Lombax race was slowly reuniting once again. And speaking of which, Ratchet finally arrived home and out of the hospital. Though his movements were slower than before due to the impact of the battle he participated in, he was still able to speak well.  
"How lucky can you two be?" he spoke. "You've captured one of the deadliest criminals!"  
"Yes, but I don't deserve ALL the credit," Donna replied with a chuckle. "This little one finished him off for me."  
"Another Lombax! Where did you find her?"  
"I don't think you'd actually believe me if I ever told you. It's a long story…"  
"Don't worry, I'm pretty anxious to hear how it happened."

The next morning, during breakfast, Ratchet nervously listened in on the story Donna told about her adventure. His reaction left Ruth in a state of laughter and joy, and at the same time of sitting in between Donna and Sackboy.  
Ratchet almost dropped his waffles to the floor out of disbelief and surprise. "I guess you deserve a lot of the credit…" he said after hearing everything. "You did something that I never thought of doing in the least bit. If only I could have visited that realm myself…"  
"You still can—I brought the Time Cube back to where it belongs," Donna replied with a chuckle.  
"I need to add this to Clank's reminder. I've been missing out on so many opportunities."  
"Well…" Captain Qwark replied, "…at least you remembered to be back in time for waffles. No one can resist its deliciousness and delicacy! NO ONE!"  
"No need to be dramatic, Qwark!" Ratchet interrupted. "If there's one thing I remembered, it's the reason why I'm coming back to the League of Heroes. It's because of Pupuru, one of the closest friends I've ever had. I promised I would always be there for her… and I'm going to keep that promise…"

 **Thank you all very much for reading this. Special thanks go to Sofie Spangenberg for requesting this story.**


End file.
